Compaq Presario V2000 Parition Issues

Now, I'm not brand new to computers, but I do have extremely limited experience with all things related to partitions. I was recently given this supposedly new Compaq Presario V2000 (I was told it was new, but it was given without a box or instructions or anything save two CDs - OS and Driver Recovery)

Anyway -- To the point, I noticed this laptop has two partitions. One, named C:, which is what I'm used to. It was fairly blank, having nothing on it, not even a Program Files or Documents and Settings folder. I didn't argue much, I have no need for Windows bloatware. Then there's a second partition, about a tenth of the size of C:, named D: PRESARIO_RP.

Now, this is where I found all of those familiar folders and pointlessly included things. Documents and Settings, Program Files, etc. All there. The issue I have is that EVERYTHING I download automatically heads to the My Documents folder of D:. I don't want it there, because I only have about a gig of HD space to play with on there. What is eating up six other gigs of HD space in that partition, I do not know, but I assume it's XP-related things.

NOW, the real question. How do I either add all of C:'s space to D:, or make C: my default partition for saves and regular use? I'd like to get rid of the extra partition all together, but at this point, I'm really not even sure how to move things between partitions. Also, whenever I go into the Admin section of the Control Panel, I see that D: is labeled my boot partition. Does that mean if I remove D:, I will be unable to boot my computer? In this case, I'd like to just add all of the space to D: and save trouble.

I may be incorrect in the forum I post this, but since I've only ever experienced having two separate partitions on delivery with this notebook (Compaq Presario V2000 if I haven't stated that already) and would really love some assistance. Thank you guys very much.

 

Yikes that sounds like a mess. Usually your windows is on the first partition (C) and other stuff is on the following partitions. What OS are you using?

 

Yeah, sounds like someone goofed when reinstalling Windows. Looks like they installed XP on the tiny recovery partition, and left the main partition blank.

All V2000's should have XP on them since they were discontinued right around the time HPaq started switching over to Vista. If I were you, I would probably pop in my Windows XP disk, delete both partitions, and reinstall XP onto the free space (Windows will automatically make the free space into a partition and call it C .

An alternative is to use a program like PartitionMagic to rearrange/rename your partitions, but this will cause more problems than it fixes, especially if you have programs installed.

 

Wow, thank you guys for the prompt replies! I've asked for help with this problem elsewhere days ago, and am still awaiting a single reply.

Anyhow, I luckily have the OS disk. So, upon loading up the disk, will I be presented with an option to mess around with the partitions? I'll probably do as kubel said and just delete them both and start from scratch. Because I haven't done a whole lot on this computer yet.

I imagine my guess was correct and this was not a new laptop, the friend must have done everything himself and messed this up. I suppose it's better to catch this now and get to deleting rather than later when I'd have lots of important things I'd like to keep. I'll check back on this thread tomorrow if there's another option, but oh well if there isn't.

Also-- Any estimation on the total time required to delete both partitions and reinstall Windows XP SP2? I work quite a bit, and need to know if I should reserve this for one of my days off or I can handle it during a workday. Thanks.

 

It takes a few hours. Reason is the install of the OS takes about an hour or so then you have to install all of the udpates since sp2 and then you have to install your programs and get all of your settings right. Mine took about 6 hours for everything. I suggest you look at a program like Acronis True Image, it will make an image of your drive and should anything happen after you did all that work, it will have it restored in about 10 mins vs 6 hours. Can save a lot of headaches.

 

On my V2000Z, getting to the place on the XP Professional installation where you can delete the partitions takes about 5 minutes (it has to load files, then you have to agree to terms, etc.., then you get to the partition screen automatically). Deleting is instant. You just select a partition, press D, then press L (I think). The screen should give you clearer instructions than my memory .

Once all the partitions are gone, you should see one entry there all by itself that says "unpartitioned space". Just select this and press enter to install Windows to the unpartitioned space.

The next screen will ask you if you want to do a quick NTFS format, a full NTFS format, a quick FAT32 format, or a full FAT32 format. XP Home might not have the NTFS options, I don't remember. Generally, you want to do a full format (NTFS if possible) unless you know the drive is in good shape, then you can do a quick. The difference: Full checks for bad sectors and marks those sectors as bad so files don't get written there, quick doesn't. So it's a gamble between thoroughness and speed.

A quick format will take less than a minute. A full format will probably take 10-20 minutes depending on partition size.

Once it's done formatting, it begins copying files. Then it will automatically reboot. It will then load a GUI with mouse support (touchpad might not work though, so get ready to use tab key to move around). And it will install some more, ask you some questions about your network settings, time zone, cd key, etc..., and it might reboot a few more times. This is the longest process, and takes about 35 minutes (the estimated time it gives is usually an overestimation).

When it reboots, it will tell you to press any key to boot to CD. DONT DO THIS! You will just throw yourself back to the beginning. The only time you should press a key to boot to CD is the first time you turn on your computer.

After that, you will need to install drivers. If you have them all available, it should be relatively painless, but full of reboots. This usually takes me about 15 minutes. Then comes tweaking and installing applications, which I can spend hours doing.

After you have everything set up, you probably don't ever want to do that again. So take Wingsbr's advice and consider a backup solution like Acronis TrueImage 10. Acronis works on my V2000Z, but not on my DV6000Z. I miss it badly (in fact, right now, I'm reinstalling Windows the old slow way...).

If you have any questions along the way, feel free to come back here and ask!

 

That Acronis TrueImage 10 certainly sounds like something I'll be looking into. I expect to do this sometime this weekend, after I get the handful of things off this computer that I want to save (a few CDs, some pictures, etc.) on a thumb drive. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly, and I won't have to bother with it again. Again, thank you guys so much, otherwise I'd spend the rest of this computer's life fumbling around having to save everything to a different partition.

 

It sounds like your friend installed the OS in the recovery partition drive. So everytime you install a program you have to re-direct it to the C:\ drive. It's said that the OS in by itself on it's own partition boots faster. Since you have the OS handy why not just redo the whole system or press f11 when booting up and it will return it to it's original config.